It’s a family affair. And carrying forward the legacy of Maloya music to inspire future generations is the family business. Votia are led by the powerful voice of Marie-Claude Philéas Lambert, the daughter of Gramoun Lélé, one of the great masters of Maloya’s resurgence after the French authorities’ attempt to outlaw it in the 1970s. Her mother came from a well-known Malagasy musical family. Growing up with these traditions in her blood and after her experiences touring with her father until his passing in 2004, Marie-Claude has gathered her own family around her – husband and children – to form Votia, singing her own compositions in Malagasy and Creole, replete with the polyphonous harmony singing and chanting, dynamic poly-rhythmic percussion and the echoes of Indian and African influences that make up this unique Reunionese expression.

New album « Vié Kaz » – Releade on May, 30th 2025 (Ajabu Records/ Budde Music)